[CLUE-Tech] Linux 802.11b

[Timothy C. Klein]

* Match Grun (match at dimensional.com) wrote:
> We were talking about this card at work today. Apparently LinkSys
> changed the chipset in this wireless card without changing the version
> number. My card is marked WPC11v3 and works fine. A coworker has a card
> with the same marking but it has a different chipset. Apparently the
> card will also not function with Win/NT.
> 
> Anyway, there are supposed to be drivers for your card. You should
> search the web.

I actually have a WPC11v3, which is the PCMCIA card, and it works under
Linux. It is a Prism chip set. The one that I am having trouble with,
though, is a WMP11v4, which is the newer PCI version of this card. Up
until v2.7 of this card, it was the same thing, more or less, as the
WPC11v3, but just PCI. But after v2.7, it switched to a Broadcom chip
set. Broadcom is completely unsupported in Linux, and has shown no signs
of wanting to support Linux. Linksys has responded to requests for
Linux support for their newer wireless cards, by saying that they are
completely powerless to do so. It would be up to Broadcom.

I have even heard that this issue with Broadcom is neither technical
nor secretive. The Broadcom designs support 'a', 'b', and 'g' wireless
cards. Thus, their designs are said to have support for frequency
programming. If they release an open source driver for their chip set,
it becomes possible to see how the frequency of the card is programmed,
and reprogram it whatever you would like. As it turns out, that would be
illegal. The FCC requires that devices like that not be able to be set
to any frequency (eg, military frequency, TV freq, etc). That is what I
read, at least. I don't know squat about that stuff.

The drivers that do exist, are not native Linux drivers.
http://www.linuxant.com offers a wrapper into the Linux kernel of the
*WinXP* drivers for these cards.  Thus, you can make the cards work in
Linux with their 100% proprietary Windows drivers.  I haven't tried that
yet, as I don't quite like the idea.  I may just take them back.

Of course, all this new stuff I learned *after* I bought these cards.  I
had not realized that the chip sets had changed in these cards, and
thought it would work.  Argh!

Tim
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